Sebastian Brosche · 21 min · 1,575 words
A leg-focused class for big, powerful or very stiff bodies and total beginners. Part of the Yoga for Boulders series.
Our session for today is targeted around the legs. This class is designed for those who are just really big powerhouses, the big guys or girls that are powerhouses, those of us that are really, really stiff or have never or those of us that have never done yoga a day in our lives or if you just want something to feel great. Grabbing your jitsu belt or any type of belt, starting on your back. Loop the belt around the ball of the right foot.
Gently bend and extend the right leg. You'll spend approximately two minutes in each position, adding movement to some of the positions like this one here. If it feels good, continue with bending and extending the leg. Or if you're ready, you can go ahead and straighten or almost straighten the leg.
I like to loop my hands around the belt, allowing the shoulders to relax. The reason why the belt is around the ball of the foot is to stretch the calves too, allowing them to join the party because they do take a lot of weight and they do a lot of work. The back of the legs tend to become very stiff because they're quite often bent from sitting. How much time we spend sitting in a day.
In jiu-jitsu, they're bent a lot of the time. And even when we stand, they're not completely locked out, so those muscles tend to shorten. It's very important to stretch them out. One last breath.
Take the belt in the right hand. Bring the leg to the right side, stretching the inside of the quads. Not a muscle that we commonly visit, so it is usually tight too. Taking your deep breath.
Deep breath in. On the exhale, focus on the muscle we're stretching. That focus really allows us to be aware of what's tight and to allow the nervous system to help let it go, complementing the stretch. Last breath.
Bring the leg to center. Take the belt in the left hand, dropping the leg to the left side. As much or as little as is comfortable. It's not about how far over the leg goes, it's about when you feel the stretch.
It might be a little bit, it might be a lot. It's different for everybody. It's different for everybody every day. It should be a nice stretch through the outside of the hips that tend to get very tight because they're stabilizing muscles that keep our hips in place right here.
And we use that again a lot in jiu-jitsu. So they tend to get very tight. And then allowing a spinal twist to join the party too. Taking your last breath.
Unhook the foot from the belt. Place both feet on the ground. Find a neutral spine. And gently move the knees left and right.
Doesn't matter if they touch the ground or not. Some windshield wipers to rinse out the hips after that. Just be aware of the right leg or left leg feel different from each other. Take the belt around the ball of the left foot.
Reaching the left foot up. Gently bend and extend that left leg. Again, it's okay if the back of that leg is really stiff. That's common.
That's common because of what life demands of us to have that leg bent most of the time. It's also why it's very important to stretch it out to balance it. Continue with the bending and extending if that feels good or gently straighten the leg. Taking your last breath.
Put the belt in the left hand and bring the left foot out to the left side. Opening up the leg. I ran out of room with this wall here, but you have lots so you're fine. Stretching the inside of the leg.
Taking your last breath. Bringing the belt up to center. Right hand grabs the belt. Bring it to the right side.
Again, it doesn't matter how far over you bring the belt. You just want to feel this on the outside of the hip and with the spinal twist. Outside of the hip tends to get very tight because again, it's the stabilizing muscles that keep the hip from popping out all the time, keeps the hip centered. In jiu-jitsu, we use an incredible amount.
So if it's tight, that's okay. That's almost to be expected. That's why we're doing this. With your left arm, reach it to the left side.
Reach it out to allow a shoulder stretch. Let's close the eyes and breathe. Taking your last breath. Unhook the foot from the belt.
Feet on the ground. Wind-shield weight the knees left and right. Moving the belt to the side. We don't need it anymore.
We're going to do a little bit of a push-up. We're going to do a little bit of a push-up. We're going to do a little bit of a push-up. Moving the belt to the side.
We don't need it anymore. Roll onto your favorite side. Push yourself up to a sit. Moving into the hips now even more.
Bring the feet into what's called the legs into a 90-90. The front shin facing forward. So parallel to the front of the mat. And the back leg parallel to the side of the mat.
It doesn't matter how far in or out the feet are. Just find a comfortable position. This one is with breathing to start. Place both hands on each side of the knee.
Inhale and lift. Exhale. Gently drop down. Both hands on each side of the shin.
One by the knee. One by the ankle. Inhale, lift. Exhale, drop.
And both hands on either side of the foot. Inhale, lift. Exhale, drop. Moving through this.
Back to the knee. Inhale, lift. Exhale, drop. Shin.
Foot. Last one. It doesn't matter if you're going a lot into this stretch. We're just moving, breathing with movement.
Knee. Shin. And foot. And foot.
Going into pigeon pose. Place both hands almost in front of the knee, anywhere that's comfortable. And with the back foot, pull it back. Pull it back just a little bit.
And the hands can either be on, I actually like it on each side of the knee. Feels better to have it in front of the shin. Go ahead. I like it in front of the knee.
And either stay here, or if you can, go onto your elbows. Another stretch for the outside of that hip. For the back leg. If the back leg is bent, there'll be a stretch on the inside of the hip.
If you want more, you can straighten the back leg. That will be the front of the hip. So any variation, don't worry about doing this perfectly. This pigeon pose perfectly.
There's so many variations to it, and our goal is to get a stretch on the outside of that left hip. 30 seconds, just breathing, once you've found your pigeon. Last breath. Pulse onto your hands.
And find a spot with the hands behind you, place behind you, with windshield wipers. To windshield wiper the legs, left and right. Doesn't matter if the legs touch the ground or not. The knees, sorry.
Doesn't matter if the knees touch the ground. When you're ready, bring both knees to the right side. For 90-90, or S-mount on the other side. Shin facing the front of the mat.
So parallel in line with the front of the mat. The other shin in line with the side of the mat. And again, it doesn't matter how perfect the 90-90. It can be an absolute perfect 90-90.
Or the knees can be in a little bit. Breathing through this, place both hands on either side of the knee. Inhale to lift. Exhale, just gently drop.
Doesn't matter how much or how little. Shin, one hand in front of the knee, other hand in front of the ankle. Inhale, lift. Exhale, drop.
And foot, one hand on each side of the foot. Back to the knee. Shin. Foot.
Last one. Knee. Shin. Foot.
Find your way to your pigeon. I like to place both hands on each side of the knee. And exhale, drop. Inhale, drop.
Exhale, drop. And the other side of the knee. And lengthen that back leg out. It can be bent or straight, whatever is comfortable for you.
And maybe whatever is comfortable for you today. We want to stretch the outside of the right hip, the outside of the front hip. So either stay with your hands posted. Or go ahead and bring the elbows down, just whatever is comfortable.
So once you find your pigeon, we'll spend our last minute simply breathing. Close the eyes. Focus on the stretch. Where you feel it and how it feels.
Inhale. Inhale. Inhale. Taking your last breath.
Find your way to a sit with the hands behind you for windshield wipers, just like we did last time. So one more time, windshield wipers with the legs. Again, it doesn't matter how far the knees go to the ground. It doesn't matter how much they move.
All that matters is that we are moving it. Creating mobility in the hips. And sometimes simply just moving them is so important. Okay, and there we are.
Thank you so much for joining me today and we will see you next time.
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